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3 Exercises for Happy & Healthy Feet

Regularly exercising and stretching your feet and ankles with appropriate physical therapy exercises is an excellent and fun way to keep them healthy. Taking proactive steps for your feet will decrease the chances of sustaining an injury and will help to treat and prevent deformities like bunions and hammertoes.

Some excellent foot and ankle exercises include the following:

Raise, point, and curl exercises— While seated, keep your feet flat on the floor and then stand up on the balls of your feet. Hold for 15 seconds. Now move on to the tips of your toes and hold again for 10 seconds. Finally, lower your feet to a flat position and curl your toes and hold this position for 10 seconds. Repeat the entire exercise 5 times.

Roll a tennis ball under your foot—Foot cramps and arch pain can be treated with this exercise. Start from a seated position and roll a tennis ball or frozen water bottle underneath your foot for several minutes. Standing will add more weight and provide a deeper effect. Repeat the procedure 5 times with each foot.

Toe scrunches—Pick up marbles or other small objects with your toes. You can also try scrunching a small towel with your toes. These exercises are good for hammertoe treatment and metatarsal syndrome.

To maintain the health of your feet, it is important to see your foot specialist at least twice a year. At Your Next Step, our team of board-certified podiatrists uses their years of experience and advanced diagnostic tools to assess and treat a variety of foot and ankle conditions. From sports injuries and joint pain, to deformities and nail fungus, our foot doctors are ready to solve your podiatric issues! Dr. Eric Ricefield, Dr. Mark Yagodich, and Dr. Aliza V. Eisen provide high-quality foot and ankle care to patients in the greater Philadelphia area at our offices conveniently located in Ardmore, Paoli, Woodlyn, and Downingtown, PA. Contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.